


Before Too Long

by TobuIshi



Category: Bastion
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bad Ending, Bleak, Gen, Possible Looped Past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 21:42:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1241719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TobuIshi/pseuds/TobuIshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After seven days on Zia's trail, the Kid is worn down to kindling and headed for a burn. We all make mistakes, son. We all have our reasons to want to start fresh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before Too Long

Seven days in, and the Kid's tired. Bone tired.

Who could blame him? Sure enough, he's a tough kid. Didn't have much chance to rest, though, after the Ura'd had enough of his hammer. Did what I could to help, but it was the Kid who really drove 'em out of the Bastion. Him and those critters, rest their souls. But when he found that little harp-guitar lyin' abandoned, well, that was that. Kid tied it to his back, next to the City Crest, and took to the Skyway.

That last look he gave me, said it all. A look like that's as good as a vow. Kid was gonna bring her back, or die tryin'.

He's gettin' pretty close, all things considered.

Ain't eaten much since he left the Bastion. Ain't drunk much, either, aside from spirits. The Ura never were much for fountains, and the Calamity put paid to the rivers out east. Third night in, the Kid woke up with an Ura warrior standin' over his bedroll, this close to cuttin' him a second smile right under his chin, ear to ear. He ain't hardly slept a wink since that night. Just dozes while he can, on his feet when he has to. Trekkin' half-asleep through the stones. Through the snow. Woke up, once, about two steps from walkin' right out into the air.

Yeah. Kid's gettin' pretty close to keepin' that vow. One way or another.

Not that the Ura are makin' the path easy for him, either. That first riflewoman gave the Kid a real shock, cryin' out like she did when his arrow hit her. All he saw was a flash of color, but that was enough, after all those beasts he's been fightin'. Bright stripes, dark hair. Ura. That arrow was off the string before he knew which way he was shootin'.

Kid ain't the type to hurt a woman. Never has been. But times of trial have a way of forcin' you to bend a little on where you'll draw the line.

Kid's a quick learner, when he ain't in a schoolroom.

Sun goes down. Kid keeps goin'. Sun comes up again. Kid keeps goin'. Gettin' jumpy, for lack of sleep. Can't hardly pry his fingers off that bow and hammer of his. Something moves? Something dies. Something moves again? Same story. There's a trail of death behind the Kid you could follow all the way back to the Bastion.

But the Kid keeps goin'.

It's cold up here, seven days in. Gettin' close to the limits of the wilderness, right into Ura territory. Gettin' close to the limits of what a man can stand, for that matter, with nothin' to eat and nowhere to rest, and danger strikin' all the time. If he slows down now, puts down his old friend for a rest, he might never find the strength to pick that hammer up again.

And those Ura just keep comin'. They don't like how close he's gettin' to their homeland. Guess they figure, sooner or later, they're bound to wear him down.

Can't say they don't have a point. Kid's runnin' on pure determination and Werewhisky by now. He's been out here so long, he's about ready to forget why he came. Can't hardly see straight anymore. Feels like catchin' a lungful of Stinkweed. Kid deals with it the same way. Just keeps on movin', one foot in front of the other, crunchin' through the snow. Feels more like fallin' than walkin' by now. Firin' off arrows left and right, swingin' that hammer, droppin' anything that stands in his way.

There's frost in the Kid's hair, but he don't bother shakin' it loose. Weather can't stop him. Beasts can't stop him. Ura can't stop him. Ain't much that can, as long as he don't slow down. Kid's comin' home soon, for sure. He can feel it.

And then he catches that flash of color, out the corner of his eye. Something's runnin' toward him, like everything else these last seven days. Bright stripes. Dark hair. Ura.

Kid never slows down. Turns on instinct, quick as a flash, and lets that arrow fly...

Well.

Ain't much point explainin' what happens next, is there?

A thing like that...it makes a man wonder, sometimes, if the Gods have a sense of humor. And mankind, what's left of us after the Calamity... Are we the audience? Or just the punchline?

Kid never filled in the details for me. Can't say I blame him. But he kept his vow. He brought her home to the Bastion.

Compared to his old friend, that poor little girl hardly weighed a thing. Just about broke my heart to see the way he laid her down in her old tent. Untied that twanger of hers and put it in her hands. Real gentle. Like an offering.

He spent the night in the Distillery, after that, drinkin' I don't know what. I didn't have the heart to haul him out. But he came out on his own anyhow, the next morning. Pulled on his boots without sayin' a word, and headed out after you.

And, well, you know the rest.

I know you don't put much stock in what I tell you, Zulf. But let the Kid make his own choice here.

We've all got moments we'd like to do over again.

**Author's Note:**

> Why? Because I was absolutely terrified that this was what would happen, for my entire first playthrough of Zia's flight and rescue. I was viscerally relieved when it didn't, at least in our reality, but I can't help wondering all the same. How many times did the Kid revive the world before finally evacuating?


End file.
